Men's 400 metre freestyle at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad | |||||||||||||
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Venue | Beijing National Aquatics Center | ||||||||||||
Date | August 9, 2008 (heats) August 10, 2008 (final) | ||||||||||||
Competitors | 37 from 27 nations | ||||||||||||
Winning time | 3:41.86 | ||||||||||||
Medalists | |||||||||||||
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Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics | ||
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Qualification | ||
Freestyle | ||
50 m | men | women |
100 m | men | women |
200 m | men | women |
400 m | men | women |
800 m | women | |
1500 m | men | |
Backstroke | ||
100 m | men | women |
200 m | men | women |
Breaststroke | ||
100 m | men | women |
200 m | men | women |
Butterfly | ||
100 m | men | women |
200 m | men | women |
Individual medley | ||
200 m | men | women |
400 m | men | women |
Freestyle relay | ||
4×100 m | men | women |
4×200 m | men | women |
Medley relay | ||
4×100 m | men | women |
Marathon | ||
10 km | men | women |
The men's 400 metre freestyle event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 9–10 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China. [1]
Reigning world champion Park Tae-Hwan made an Olympic milestone to become South Korea's first ever gold medalist in swimming. He powered past the field to an unexpected triumph in an Asian record of 3:41.86. [2] [3] [4] Coming from sixth place in the final lap, China's Zhang Lin delighted the home crowd with a silver-medal effort in 3:42.44. Meanwhile, U.S. swimmer Larsen Jensen set a new American record of 3:42.78 to take the bronze. [5]
American Peter Vanderkaay delivered a strong swim with a fourth-place effort in 3:43.11, just 0.35 of a second ahead of Tunisia's Oussama Mellouli, who established a new African record of 3:43.45. Leading the field in the first 100 metres, Australia's Grant Hackett, the silver medalist in the event from Athens, could not keep the pace over the final laps, and settled only for sixth place with a time of 3:43.84. Russian duo Yuri Prilukov (3:43.97) and Nikita Lobintsev (3:48.29) rounded out the final. [2] [3]
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
World record | Ian Thorpe (AUS) | 3:40.08 | Manchester, United Kingdom | 30 July 2002 | [6] |
Olympic record | Ian Thorpe (AUS) | 3:40.59 | Sydney, Australia | 16 September 2000 | - |
Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
3 | Park Tae-Hwan | South Korea | 3:41.86 | AS | |
5 | Zhang Lin | China | 3:42.44 | NR | |
4 | Larsen Jensen | United States | 3:42.78 | AM | |
4 | 7 | Peter Vanderkaay | United States | 3:43.11 | |
5 | 1 | Oussama Mellouli | Tunisia | 3:43.45 | AF |
6 | 2 | Grant Hackett | Australia | 3:43.84 | |
7 | 8 | Yuri Prilukov | Russia | 3:43.97 | |
8 | 6 | Nikita Lobintsev | Russia | 3:48.29 |
Peter William Vanderkaay is an American former competition swimmer who specialized in middle-distance freestyle events and is a four-time Olympic medalist. He was a member of the United States Olympic team in 2004, 2008, and 2012, and won bronze medals in the 200-meter freestyle at the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 400-meter freestyle at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Park Tae-hwan is a South Korean competitive swimmer who is an Olympic gold medalist and world champion. He has four Olympic medals, five world titles, and 20 Asian Games medals. He won a gold medal in the 400-meter freestyle and a silver in the 200-meter freestyle events at the 2008 Summer Olympics. He also won two silver medals at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the 200- and 400-meter freestyle. He is the first Asian swimmer to claim a gold medal in the men's 400-meter freestyle, and the first-ever South Korean swimmer to win any Olympic medal in swimming. He also holds 3 Asian Records, all in Men's Freestyle. He is best known for his impressive range and versatility, as he is able to compete at international level in 100-, 200-, 400- and 1,500-meter freestyle.
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